A blog dealing with either the joy of cinema or the agony of cinema--nothing in between.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Horrible Bosses

Three friends all have unimaginable employers, each a beast of a different nature: Nick (Jason Bateman) has been expecting a promotion from his anal retentive boss (Kevin Spacey) who ultimately decides to fill the position himself. Dale (Charlie Day) is being sexually harassed by the maneating dentist (Jennifer Aniston) he works for. Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) actually has a boss (Donald Sutherland) he respects, but when he kicks the bucket his coke addled son (Colin Farrell) takes over with the intention of running the business into the ground and milking the profits. Now the trio decide it is time to take the ultimate step and off their bosses. Hiring a dubious criminal (Jamie Foxx) they meet in a local dive to give them advice, they partake in a Hitchcockian plot that has unintended and unexpected results. I thought that Horrible Bosses never soars and is never the uproarious movie it thinks it is. Jason Bateman does his usual straight man bit, and Charlie Day does his Always Sunny routine, and I thought Jason Sudeikis, an actor who I'm not familiar with, was funny. Supporting players, including Spacey, Aniston, Farrell, Foxx, Sutherland, and even Ron White all have good roles but are way too underused. I would attribute the problem to a movie written by two many people (three screenwriters credited), starring too many people, that tries to give them all fair time. On top of that many of the jokes fall flat and the result is a mildly diverting film with a few laughs that probably isn't worth the price of admission.